NU women's rugby seeks winning season despite injuries

By Jason Leonard
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

The women's rugby team has had its share of injuries this year. One thing about the team that is encouraging, though, is that even though the team is young, the girls have posted a win against good competition, said Cordella Wagner, 20, a junior nursing major, from Texas.

Last year, the NU women's rugby team had a perfect season.

"Last year's record was really good; we were undefeated in our regular season and went to playoffs where we came in third place," said Carolyn Bronson, 20 , a political science and international studies major.

Going into this season, the team has had to grapple with having a young group of women.

"We're kind of rebuilding this year, having only four girls on the team who have played before, but the seniors are really stepping up and leading the younger members of the team," said Meggan Robinson, 18, a freshman sports medicine major.

There are 12 freshmen on the team.

"They're doing very well this year. Most of them are actually the core starters on the team, and there are a few older girls mixed in there, as well," said Jackie Meehan, 18, a freshman criminal justice major from Indiana.

There are three seniors on the team.

"I think the whole team looks up to them on the field for direction, and we need them, because most of the team hasn't ever played rugby, before," Wagner said.

The captains of the team are Carolyn Bronson and Kristy Pine.

"The other girls are actually a little scared of Pine. I think they give her a lot of respect. Carolyn is a great leader, too, and the girls go to her a lot when they might have some problems with something," Robinson said.

"Bronson and Pine both bring a lot of experience to the team, for they were on the team last year when they went undefeated," Meehan said.

The women all cite different reasons for why they play rugby.

"What I love most about rugby is that it's very physical, and you get to kick people's butts," Wagner said. "It's nice to be able to take out all of your aggression on the field, and then there's all of the close friendships that you have from being with each other and playing together."

"The thing I like the most about women's rugby is the contact aspect, the closeness of the team, and the fact that this all a new learning experience for me," Robinson said. "I love the bond that we all have on the team. We're like sisters in how we'll do anything for each other."

The women's team practices every day during the week.

"We practice Monday through Friday starting at 4:15 p.m. and ending around 6 p.m.," Wagoner said. "We start the practice off with a warm up lap and then go into stretching, where afterwards we do some running drills. Then we split up the team into individual drills, where we split up the forwards and the backs, and then we have a scrimmage.

"At the end we do sprints," Wagner said. Early this season the team played in a tournament.

"We've played three games already this year, which we played at a tournament, and we've had two games in our season schedule, and should have had a third, but the team forfeited," Bronson said.

In the first game Norwich played St. Michael's.

"It was our first actual season game, and despite how young the team is, we won 20-0," Robinson said.

The second game was against Plymouth State.

"We lost 17-5. It was a really tough game, and I was proud to see that the girls fought 'til the end. We wanted the game really bad, because we beat them last year, but I know we'll get our revenge next year," Meehan said.

Injuries have taken their toll on the team.

"There are a lot of injuries on the team, many, but it's a very physical sport, and injuries are bound to happen to some extent," Wagner said.

The numbers of women able to play on the teams is constantly changing between 20 and 24, said Robinson.

"Cordella broke her leg at St Michael's, so she is going to be out of commission for the rest of the season. Another girl tore her ACL, too," Bronson explained.

Being together so much, the girls make close bonds with each other, said Meehan.

"We get along really well. It's like another family," Wagner said.

"Outside of the team, we pretty much just hang out together like you would with friends," Robinson said. " I love how close we are. It's like having 20 other sisters."

The next game the team is playing is UVM.

"They're a good team, but I think we're going to put it all together and put another check in the win category," said Natasha Waggoner, 21, a communications major from Carlsbad, Calif.

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